Dentinho unconcerned by Shakhtar predicament

His team may be bottom of UEFA Champions League Group G after failing to win any of their opening three matches, but FC Shakhtar Donetsk forward Dentinho is confident the Pitmen will still reach the last 16.

Ahead of Tuesday's encounter in Russia with FC Zenit St Petersburg the Shakhtar squad honed their competitive instincts during a day out at a local bowling alley, where the 22-year-old told UEFA.com: "The Champions League is a very difficult competition. All the teams are solid, they mark hard, but I'm sure we will qualify."

To do that, though, the summer signing from SC Corinthians Paulista knows the fixture against Zenit − with whom Shakhtar drew 2-2 a fortnight ago − is one they cannot afford to drop points in. "It's only the beginning but we need to win against Zenit, it's very important."

Should Mircea Lucescu's men finish in the top two, Luiz Adriano believes eclipsing last season's run to the quarter-finals is a possibility. "The team is strong enough to get to the semi-finals of the Champions League but first we must achieve our initial objective, which is to go through to the next stage," said the forward, a scorer against Zenit on matchday three.

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